


Liminal

by Anonymous



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Genre: F/M, Mid-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-04
Updated: 2015-07-04
Packaged: 2018-04-07 13:54:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 765
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4265709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jounouchi meets her on the edge of a dream.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Liminal

**Author's Note:**

> For the [Yugioh DM Rare Pair Challenge](http://ygodmrarepair.dreamwidth.org/)
> 
> Takes place during Battle City.

 

* * *

 

 

Jounouchi remembers being seven years old, the last time he came to this beach-- the waves of the sea are just as clear, and the sand is just as warm as it was that time. The colour of the sky-- it's also the same as the day Mom took Shizuka and left without saying good-bye.

In the distance, there is the sound of a car passing by.

"Cars are strange things, aren't they? They take people to such faraway places."

The girl's voice is softly accented, and the way her white hair falls into her face is familiar, though Jounouchi cannot place it. He can’t remember her name, either. She's probably one of the younger students at Domino High-- though, if that's the case, he's not sure why she has followed him all the way here. "You are, again...?"

"Just someone else who encountered the Millennium Items,” she replies, like she’s said it many times before.

"Keh. Those things," Jounouchi says. "They do nothing but cause trouble." It feels like there is something he is missing here, but he cannot for the life of him remember what it is.

In the distance, there is a sound of thunder, and clouds are rolling in to obscure the sun as the sky quickly darkens. "We should probably find shelter," he says. "It looks like it's going to rain."

"I know somewhere." She takes his hand, small fingers wrapping around his own with surprising strength.

She leads him over a pebbled footpath to a small sheltered pavilion. The sky is fully dark now, the air cold and heavy with moisture, and they make it there just before the first drops of rain begin to fall. The small slanted roof is not quite enough to keep out the wet, and at his side, the girl shivers and tugs the long sleeves of her cardigan down over her hands.

He wishes he’d had his jacket to give her, but he doesn’t. So he just positions himself between her and the direction of the wind, which will hopefully keep out the worst of the wet.

Behind them, there is the sound of tyres screeching, and then the crunch of metal as it crumples. Jounouchi turns around to look in the direction of the sound, but several closely spaced trees obscure the sight. "Should we go see what happened?"

"No, no need," the girl says. "You already know, you can't change anything."

It doesn't quite make sense, but something in Jounouchi agrees anyway. He nods, and doesn't look away from the knot of trees.

"My brother-- he would be about your age now.”

"What happened to him?"

"We got separated when we were young. My mother and I-- we got into a car, just like that one, and it took us far away."

Yeah. He knows how that story goes.

Another flash of lightning in the sky, a sound of thunder that breaks through the rain.  She steps around him to look at the stormclouds in the distance, and at the horizon where the ocean meets the sky. "You can't stay here," she says, though her words are almost lost to the wind. "You need to go back. Your friends need you."

Oh, god. Yuugi. He's dueling Marik now. "What about you?"

"I'll be all right."

She says that when they're stuck here, under this small shelter with no end to the storm in sight. The wind is strong enough that the ends of her hair are damp with rain.

The thunder again, closer now, loud enough to make his heart jump. She shivers again, and leans in closer so her shoulder is tucked against his chest. "Can I kiss you?"

It's completely unexpected, and for a moment, Jounouchi doesn’t say anything But she must have taken his reaction positively, because she smiles, and leans up, and he feels for a brief moment the soft pressure of her lips against his own. As she pulls away, he notices she'd had to stand on her toes to reach.

Someday, Shizuka also will kiss someone like this. But not on such a wretched day. It would be a clear day, under a blue sky, in one of Domino's parks. He doesn't know this girl, but she's somebody's sister, and that's enough reason to need to make her happy.

"I'm glad it was you, Katsuya Jounouchi," she says, and she’s smiling. Her hands, still wrapped around the back of his neck, are cold, but her eyes are warm.

 

 

Another flash of lightning, another sound of thunder, and Jounouchi jolts awake in the mobile hospital bed.

 

 

 


End file.
